As the boom in American whiskey reaches new heights, New Riff Distilling has broken ground on a $2-million expansion that will increase production by 50%.
Construction on the 800-square-foot addition has started at the distillery’s Newport location, allowing the installation of three additional fermenters.
Co-founder Ken Lewis says the expansion will allow New Riff to producer older and more specialty whiskeys. And the expansion necessitates hiring additional new employees.
“We remain committed to becoming one of the great small distilleries of the world,” Lewis adds. “This expansion will help us achieve that goal while remaining a family-owned business with no outside ownership.”
The expansion resolves a current production bottleneck, the company says. It lets distilling occur 24 hours a day, four days a week.
This will allow the distillery to produce 12,000 barrels per year, the company estimates, up from 8,000 with the existing setup.
New Riff currently retails in 16 states, with plans for distribution expansion.
